New directing team Charlie & Charlie introduce young Coventry poet-rapper shortstraw. with a visually inventive take on the horrible state of the nation.Through a montage of playful vignettes the directors present a personal reflection of England in 2024 - a dreary land of zero hours, grey skies, chip shops, rain (lots of rain), bad telly and food banks. But into this catastrophe comes the irrepressible shortstraw. (aka Erin West) to deliver a dynamic performance of the anthemic Good For Nothing.It's a version of the UK we can all recognise, with just the slightest glimmer of optimism and hope breaking through. And a perfect introduction to the artist. "We wanted to represent this sense of place and reflect the weird kind of 'hopeful' desolation' in the lyrics in a non-clichéd way," say Charlie Drinkwater and Charles Gall - aka Charlie & Charlie."We wanted to focus on a set of performances and keep Erin front and centre to help build the unique world of shortstraw."

Flamboyant Norwegian pop sensation Metteson launches his debut album - out today, February 16th - with a theatrical performance video for title track Look To A Star that's co-directed by Metteson himself and Sondre Røe. The pair worked with a wide range of experienced and groundbreaking talent to bring this to the screen, and make a visual that spotlights this intriguing new artist's passionate and undaunted showmanship."With the help of Sondre, we gathered the best, up-and-coming people in Norway and created something really special for a very low budget with a group effort," says Matteson. "Coming from theatre, using costumes from Nordic performance- and theatre creators, working with the best up-and-coming movie and storytelling folks that Norway has fostered the past years, the best in the music biz like Matias Tellez (Girl in Red, Maisie Peters) and Vetle Junker (Aurora, Verdensrommet) to make this ultimate Metteson collaboration/bridge building, extravagant fantasy. All while still being very naked and performative, as Metteson should be."I love mixing high and low, art with thrift founds, splashes of colour within a neutral palette. I find so much joy in taking costumes and textile art from museums and theatre stages into my pop music world, building bridges and creating community."The song and video itself is also very much about community. The title track and lead single of the album Look To A Star starts off in a dark place with a lonely synth arpeggio. This signature sound echoes the lyrics 'And we try to lend a hand, to help you. Guide our tears away so you can have the space'. A group of friends, perhaps a family, seeing a loved one drift away into darkness, trying to lure them out, but uncertain how to do it. You look to a star to find hope, or to wish for something, send a prayer - to see the bigger picture."Life can be overwhelming, life happens - and suddenly you discover your friends have moved on, or perhaps you were too concerned with yourself to see your loved ones struggle. The song and the video ends in a bittersweet, ecstatic refrain. Where in the video, the three men/lovers/friends finds each others hands and dance in unison - The lyrics tell a nuanced story. "Away, guide our tears away. We look away" alluding to the superficial nature of friendships and togetherness. How we cope with our darkness, suppress our own and others fears and tears be able to coexist with each other - for better and for worse."Erik Treimann has worked with giants such as Röyksopp, Susanne Sundfør and Karpe on music videos and gained a lot of attention with his work on the Karpe documentary VEGG VEGG VEGG (2022). Sondre Røe is the spider making the web of Norwegian pop, fashion and art scene, making brilliant collaborations happen. Marius Aaserud is one of our most exciting film photographers, working with a lot of Norway's rising stars - as well as working on the last Metteson video Put It To Sleep."

Geerten Harmens and Olivier Bink co-direct a beautifully-shot, VFX-augmented performance promo for grime legend Ghetts featuring Skrapz. The video is a feat of visual effects and experimental AI, intricately woven with live action studio footage. Blending conceptual art and performance, the video strikes the perfect balance between traditional ideas and new technology.Cleverly focusing on the idea as a whole, rather than calling direct attention to the post-production, the video feels modern, heightened and deftly executed - and a perfect complement to the track.